Night Crawler
by fischergirl
Summary: Weird electrical ghosts plague Eureka as Sheriff Carter tries to solve the mystery while recovering from an accident.
1. Chapter 1

**Night Crawler**

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the show, Eureka, or any of the characters, and no profit was earned for writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I felt I had to write fan fiction for this show because there seems to be surprisingly little and it's such a great show that it deserves a lot. Also, although I have never deliberately delayed posting a story due to few reviews, they do cause me to write faster. Please Review!

CHAPTER NOTE: This story actually has a plot; this first chapter is just the setup for it so don't give up on it. It's not all drama or anything (as you might believe from this chapter) and I promise I won't badly hurt any characters!

SPOILERS: Nothing blatant, but events are current right up until "The Games We Play."

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"I don't know why you're even bothering to go to student/teacher conferences." Zoë complained, "it's not like you ever went before."

Jack refused to be swayed by her surliness. "Yeah, well, but that was before your Mom wanted weekly updates on you since letting you stay. Besides, it's not everyday I get called in to talk to your teachers without you being in some sort of trouble. I actually find it very refreshing." He smiled teasingly at her.

Zoë rolled her eyes at him and gave a quiet, "whatever," but she really wasn't upset. She liked spending time with her Dad, especially when he set aside work for her. Although, admittedly, there wasn't much going on in Eureka at the time. Still, she appreciated any time she could get, even if her Dad delighted in teasing her.

The light ahead turned green and Jack started forward with a glance at his daughter, "You know-"

"DAD! WATCH OUT!"

Carter whipped his head around to see a car heading straight for his door. He could hear the tires of the other car squealing, but realized with a sick certainty that there was no way it was going to stop in time. _At least Zoë will be somewhat safe._

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Zoë groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She started to take stock of her situation. She was sitting in a car with a deployed airbag in front of her. _What the hell?_ Then with a flash she remembered the other car and shouting out to her Dad. _Oh no,_ _Dad!_

She turned in her seat. He was obviously unconscious, leaning forward in his seatbelt with his face resting on the airbag. She couldn't see any injuries from where she was, but his side _had _taken the brunt of the impact. She numbly unhooked her seatbelt as she heard voices approaching shouting for help. She stumbled out her door, taking a moment to steady her feet and made her way to the other side of the car.

The driver of the other car wasn't visible behind the airbag, but Zoë had her priorities and that included taking care of her Dad first. The other car was a station wagon whose entire front end had crumpled on impact with theirs. Her Dad's door was irreparably mangled with most of it caved in towards the interior of the car. Leaning her body between the juncture the two cars made, she peered down the inside of her Dad's door.

Parts of the door looked to be holding his torso against the back of his seat even while his shoulders and neck leaned forward. His left arm was definitely broken, bent at a weird angle at the forearm. The metal jutted in too much for her to check his leg, but he was breathing and wasn't bleeding badly anywhere she could see. She let out the breath she had been holding and let the bystanders lead her a short distance from the car while they waited for help.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Night Crawler**

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the show, Eureka, or any of the characters, and no profit was earned for writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please Review! It makes writing so much easier.

STORY NOTE: Alright, now you kind of know what's happening so the story will kind of pick up. I'm keeping this mostly about how Carter and other characters relate with the storyline running in the background.

SPOILERS: Nothing blatant, but events are current right up until "The Games We Play."

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Nathan Stark squared his shoulders and briefly cricked his neck before knocking decisively on Allison's door. With a muffled, "come in," he opened the door and entered.

Allison was on the phone with someone and waved him over to a chair next to the room's only other occupant, Henry, who gave a brief nod to Stark before facing the desk again.

Nathan didn't know why Allison had paged him, or why it would involve Henry or whom she was on the phone with that made her say, "I see," and "Hmmm" so much. If there was one thing that irritated Nathan Stark more than Sheriff Carter, it was not knowing what was going on. He declined the chair for a position standing by the window that oversaw the lobby of Global Dynamic. It sounded like Allison was just about done with her phone call.

"Thank you again. I'll be down shortly just as soon as his daughter arrives." She hung up the phone with a sign and leaned back in her chair a moment before meeting Nathan's eyes. He cocked one eyebrow at her in quiet inquiry. "Sheriff Carter was involved in a car accident an hour ago." Nathan's eyebrows shot up and he put his hands in his pockets, the only reaction he gave. Henry straightened and stiffened in his chair as if preparing for a blow. "He and the other driver were flown ahead while his daughter was treated for minor injuries on scene. Thankfully, it sounds like he's going to be just fine. A couple of broken bones and some bruised ribs although I'm sure he won't see it like that." She finished with a wry grin.

Nathan was still slightly off balance from the news. There was no love lost between him and Carter, but he would never wish the man dead, his daughter without a father.

"The other driver?" Henry asked.

Allison's smile faded somewhat. "Not as lucky. She has a pretty bad concussion so she'll be staying here for a few days in case of complications."

Nathan nodded while looking down, trying to think of a nicer way to put what he was thinking into words. "Allison, you know that the Sheriff and me are like _this,"_ he held up his crossed fingers, ignoring the snort from Henry, "but I'm not sure exactly why you paged Henry and me down here. It sounds like his condition isn't that serious and I'm sure there will be no hurt feelings between Carter and me if I don't show up with flowers and a Get Well Soon card."

Allison smiled genuinely at that. "I realize that Nathan. I actually asked you and Henry down here to investigate the cause of the accident."

Henry beat Nathan to a reply, "Um, not to sound petty or ego-centric, but isn't that a little below our abilities?"

"Normally, yes. However, I think this case might need your expertise." She held up a hand to Nathan to let her finish. "Multiple witnesses claim that the lights in both directions were green. Based on that, I called Eureka's Facilities Manager who told me that this was not an isolated event. Several other systems were affected at the same time causing minor disruptions throughout Eureka; from things like the sprinkler system triggering itself to household appliances blowing up from large energy spikes. He _strongly_ believes that these bugs in the system or "ghosts" if you will, originated from a Global Dynamic feed that goes directly to their mainframe. Whether he's right or not, I want you two to go through the computers over there and tell me if this was an isolated case or if we can expect more."

Nathan nodded contemplatively while Henry started mumbling to himself, coming up with and discarding ideas out of hand as being too unlikely if not downright impossible. Nathan whipped his head around when the door slammed open to reveal Carter's teenage daughter Zoë followed closely by Deputy Jo Lupo.

"No one will tell me anything about my Dad. What's going on?" She demanded irately, hands on her hips and a scowl that would probably make lesser men run for the hills. Stark snorted to himself at her audacity. _Definitely Carter's daughter._

Remembering she too had been involved in the accident, he took a closer look at her. She had a few minor facial burns from the airbag along with a white bandage near her hairline. Her right wrist was wrapped with an Ace bandage, but for the most part, she looked none the worse for wear. Especially if her attitude was any indication.

Allison held up her hands in a placating manner, "He's going to be just fine. I was actually waiting for you to arrive so we could go down to see him together, alright?" She gestured for Zoë to precede her out the door, who, after a moment's hesitation, did so.

Jo gave a somewhat apologetic look to Allison as she fell in stride with the woman. "She's pretty worried." Jo offered.

"I know. So was I."

With that said, Nathan watched the three women in Carter's life disappear into the hallway.

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With a place as prone to accidents and mishaps as Eureka was, it became essential to have a top of the line medical facility staffed with the most knowledgeable people possible. Allison found herself once again thankful for the large sum of money the appropriations committee always allocated for medical expenses.

Allison Blake had no sooner walked through the glass doors into the reception area than Zoë had demanded to see her Dad's doctor. She couldn't fault the teen, after all, she too had been in a similar state of anxiety when he'd first been brought in, condition unknown.

Lupo put a hand on Zoë's shoulder in warning for her rudeness. Jo seemed to have taken it upon herself to be her keeper until her Dad was up to the task again. Zoë scowled somewhat, but settled down while the nurse went to fetch the doctor who came out blissfully quick, having been warned by Allison that they'd be on their way soon.

Dr. Jeffrey Brown was a shorter, somewhat older man with dark brown hair, olive skin and kind eyes hidden behind wire frame glasses. He seemed to be perceptive as well as he focused most of his attention on Zoë as he introduced himself. "Hi. You must be Zoë Carter. Your Dad was asking about you earlier. My name is Dr. Brown. If you'll come this way, I'll take you to see your Dad."

Zoë immediately brightened and followed him, Allison and Jo not a step behind. "I'd like to caution you on his appearance. He was just in an accident, but I assure you he looks worse than he actually is."

Zoë's temporary relief was replaced by worry again. Allison saw this and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "He's going to be all right. You'll see." She said motherly.

Dr. Brown abruptly stopped and opened the door to his right, gesturing them in.

Zoë's first thought when she saw her Dad was relief that he was still alive followed by concern as she took in his appearance. His left leg was in a cast from his foot to halfway up his thigh and propped up with pillows. His left arm was also in a cast, but a much smaller one from half of his hand to just before his elbow and wrapped in a sling. He was shirtless; his ribs taped and wearing only the puppy-dog boxers Zoë had given him as a gag-gift over a year ago. He looked to be deeply unconscious and she frowned at Dr. Brown.

"Well, I guess the most obvious of his injuries is his leg. He has a minor fracture of his tibia just below the knee and will need that cast on for 4 weeks. His left radial bone was broken and almost through the skin. The cast will need to be removed in 6 weeks. His shoulder is very bruised as are two of his ribs, but since there is no internal bleeding or head injury to speak of, we'll probably be releasing him tomorrow. He's very lucky."

"Lucky would be not being in an accident at all." Zoe replied smartly.

"If there's no head injury, then why is he unconscious?" Allison asked quietly as if afraid of jinxing his health.

"He's sedated so we could set the bones. He'll be very stiff and sore the next week or so, but after that he should be able to get around ok with crutches. I'm putting him on medical leave for 2 weeks and light desk duty for an additional four. I'll send him home with some pain meds and sedatives in case he has trouble sleeping, but mostly you'll just have to keep him quiet and well rested for a week or two."

Zoë turned between Allison and Jo with a look of horror on her face. "Grounded from field work for 6 weeks?! Dad's going to go _nuts_!"

Allison couldn't help but worry that Zoë was right, and this was going to be a very long 6 weeks. _He is not going to be a very happy camper when he wakes up._

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	3. Chapter 3

**Night Crawler**

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the show, Eureka, or any of the characters, and no profit was earned for writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the delay in posting. I had to work 2 12-hour shifts over the weekend and didn't have the energy until now to post.

STORY NOTE: I'm not sure if I'm getting the characters right so let me know if you think someone is acting "off."

SPOILERS: Nothing blatant, but events are current right up until "The Games We Play."

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It turned out Allison couldn't have been further from the truth. When Jack Carter cracked his eyes open midmorning the next day, he could have cried with joy at the sight of his daughter flipping through a magazine in a chair next to his bed. The doctor that had treated him had been unable to tell Jack anything about his daughter's condition except that she hadn't been flown in. He'd been out of his mind with worry right up until the doctor had jabbed him in the neck with something. More than anything else, Carter was just relieved that Zoë was okay. So relieved in fact, that he didn't even push her feet off his bed where they were tapping out a beat to whatever song she was humming.

She had a small white bandage over her forehead and her wrist was wrapped, but she looked mostly unhurt. Carter tried to reach over and stop her feet, but was met with a throbbing pain in his shoulder. He groaned softly, but it got Zoë's attention. "Dad!" She dropped the magazine on her chair and engulfed him in a careful hug. It seemed she knew more about where he was hurt than he did at the moment as he first became aware of the cast on his arm. After a moment, Zoë pulled back to lightly thump him on his uninjured shoulder.

"Hey," he said indignantly, "what was that for?"

"You missed parent teacher conferences. _Again_." Zoë replied without missing a beat. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you arranged this whole thing to get out of them."

Jack laughed and winced as the movement pulled at yet another injury. _Note to self, movement hurts._ "Uh huh, yeah, I can definitely see why that might anger you." He scoffed. "But hey, no worries right? I'm the Sheriff. I'll just reschedule and-." He said in a _gotcha now_ tone of voice.

Zoë's eyes widened. Maybe she shouldn't have pushed it so soon. "Uh, no, really, it's alright." She interrupted, "I mean, I guess I can do without them. No biggie. You just worry about getting better." She said as she started to fluff his pillows.

"Riiiight." Jack drawled insincerely. "I'm so glad you're willing to make that sacrifice."

She smiled back just as insincerely, "Anything for you Dad."

A more concerned look passed her face. "You know, you really had us worried. I mean, I came in early with Jo, but it looked like Allison had been here all night."

Carter's face brightened. "Really? All night you say?" He asked eagerly.

Zoë rolled her eyes and said in a disgusted voice, "Men are such insensitive pigs!"

Carter just grinned.

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Jack Carter was beyond ready to go. He'd been ready since he'd woken up this morning, but this _doctor_ had made him wait until after he'd eaten all his dinner, if that gray gruel was what you could call food anyways.

He continued bobbing his head to whatever the doctor was saying hoping to get this over with sometime soon. _From the way this guy was going on you'd think I'd never been injured on the job before._ He was disconcerted to see Allison and Zoë listening captively to every work the doctor said, and _was that a _notepad_ Allison was writing on?_

Carter's eyes widened. He hadn't signed up for this. Having his _house_ worry about him 24/7 was almost more than he could stand. No way was he going to survive the combined forces of his boss, his daughter and his deranged house!

_I need a distraction and fast! _He thought before blurting out, "I shaved my legs in college once to win a $5 bet."

Allison and Zoë both turned to look at him sitting there, wide eyed at what he had just revealed. Allison almost immediately turned her attention back to the doctor who had ignored Jack's outburst. Zoë looked at her Dad for a second longer, and after shaking her head at him, she ignored him as well.

_Well, that ingenious plan backfired. Nice going Jack!_ He slumped a little on the edge of his bed. _Wait, did he just mention work?_

"…at that point we'll reevaluate his condition and see what sort of work he could do around the office, though definitely no field work for at least 6 weeks."

"Whoa, there doc. Let's not jump to any hasty conclusions," Carter interjected. "I mean, technically speaking, you don't have the authority to ground me." He finished, his face in an insincere _my hands are tied_ expression.

"No," Allison said turning her attention to Jack, "but I _do_. And I'm going with the doctor's recommendation on this, which means _you_, will follow every word that comes out of his mouth. Am I understood?" She said somewhat menacingly.

Jack frowned. "Clearly. But let's be honest here. There's no way you can monitor me all the time."

Allison pursed her lips. "Perhaps not. But I think between Henry, Nathan, Zoë, SARAH, me and _this_," she reached over and lightly smacked the portable physical machine to his neck.

"Okay, ow! I mean seriously, you couldn't have given me like two seconds warning? That really hurts!" He complained, rubbing the disk.

"-we can manage alright." She smirked at his antics.

"Don't be such a baby." Zoë teased. Jack glared.

Allison grinned widely. "C'mon Carter. Let's get you home before you break something else."

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"SARAH door!" Zoë shouted, struggling with a pair of crutches a small bag and Allison's note that was fittingly named _Things Carter Can't Do_. She dropped the crutches just inside the door by the couch and walked over the kitchen counter.

"Welcome home, Zoë Carter. Will Sheriff Carter being joining you soon?" The house asked.

"He's like a minute behind me." Zoë reassured.

Light grunting could be heard from the hallway of the bunker as Allison, Carter and Nathan Stark became visible in the doorway. Most of the grunting was coming from Carter who was carefully situated between the other two, with Allison on his injured side and Stark on the other doing the majority of the work. They continued their awkward walk until they had Carter in his bedroom sitting up in his bed with the covers pulled down.

Jack couldn't have felt more ill at ease if he was naked. Allison was arranging pillows for his leg to lie on top of, while Stark watched Carter from a few feet away with a smirk clearly on his face at Carter's discomfort.

"Er, you know guys, not that I'm complaining or anything, but I think the couch would be a better spot for me. You know, so I can watch the game."

Allison gave him a look while Stark's smirk turned into a full-grown smile as he rolled on the balls of his feet, his hands in his pockets.

Zoë interrupted the awkward silence, "Here Dad." She handed him two white pills and _was that milk?_

Carter's face screwed up at the sight of the milk, but before he could object, Stark spoke up. "Drink up, Carter. It's good for your bones." The glare Carter sent him could have melted steel.

Allison pushed the hand that was holding the milk closer to him. "The doctor said not to take the pills on an empty stomach and your dinner was over an hour ago."

Looking very displeased at the situation, Carter tossed back the pills with a small swig of the milk, which he promptly handed back to his daughter.

Allison pulled the covers up to his chest, pushing back at him to lie down, which, after a confused pause he did.

"Alright guys, let's let Carter get some rest," she said, shepherding the other two out.

"Wait!" he protested, "I'm not even tired. There's no way I'm going to be able to _rest_."

Allison paused at the doorway to look back over her shoulder with a knowing smile. "Give it a few minutes and then we'll see if you're still not tired."

The door shut with a soft snick and SARAH dimmed the lights in the room. _What was that supposed to mean?_

He found his answer minutes later as a blanket of exhaustion carried him off to sleep, the pills having done their job.

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